Device for holding and exhibiting cards.



No. 768,286. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

. J. D. KARLE. DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND EXHIBITING CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.17, 1903.

N0 MODEL. I 4 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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ATTORNEY No. 768,286. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904] J. D. KARLE. DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND EXHIBITING CARDS.

APPLIGATIOVN FILED 0013.17, 1903.

K0 MODEL 2 SHEBTS-SHEET 2.

13 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES- Patented August 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. KARLE,'OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND EXHIB' ITING CARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,286,, dated August 23, 1904. Application filed October 17, 1903. Serial No. 177,474. (No model.)

To all whom, itvna/y concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN D. KARLE,-a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State, of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Holding and Exh'ibiting Cards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for holding and exhibiting playing-cards, and has for its object the construction of such a device whereby the several cards or hand dealt to a player may be readily inserted while in a closed pack or deck and then mechanically ers, and much valuable time in some games,

as progressive whist, for'instance, is lost on this account; but by the use of my lmproved card holder and exhibitor the delay thus occasioned is entirely eliminated andthe progress of the game greatly facilitated, enabling an inexperienced player to manipulate the hand dealt equally as dexterously as the skilful.

My invention consists, broadly, of a holder for playing-cards provided with means for mechanically spreading the cards to the view of the player and comprises certain combinations of elements hereinafter fully explained, and particularly designated in'the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which like parts are similarly designated throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved holder with a hand inserted therein and spread out so that the denomination and suit of the various cards may be seen.. Fig. 2 is an end elevation or edge view of the holder as observed from the top of Fig. 1 with the parts in the same position, but with the cards removed. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the holder with the parts and hand in closed position, such marred by contact therewith.

as is occupied after the pack has been insert- Fig. 4 is a detail. sectional elevation, somewhat enlarged, taken in the plane indicated by the line A B on Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow thereon. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but broken away and showing the cards partly spread out. Fig; 6 is a detail perspective view of the spreading-finger. Fig, 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the tension appliances. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail edge views illustrating slightlymodified forms of one of the elements of my invention.

1 is a plate, preferably of fan shape and formed rigidly with a handle 2, by which the device may be held.

3 is a suitably-shaped plate pivoted at 4 to the backof the plate 1 and provided with a conveniently-located finger-piece 5, by means of which it may be swung on its pivot, sufiicient space being left between said plates to insert the cards 13 6 is a stud fastened rigidly to the inner face of the plate 3 and projecting through an arcuate slot 7 in the plate 1, whereby the motion of the plate 3 is confined within the limits of said slot, the location of the ends of which latter respectively determine the closed and open positions of the parts.

Formed at one side of the plate 3is aninwardly-turned wall 8, against which one edge of the pack of cards is alined when inserted, and adjacent to the wall 8 is an inwardlyturned lip 9, against which the bottom edges of the cards abut previous to being spread open.

10 is what I terma spreader, which comprises an L-shaped member formed of resilient material, fastened to the outer face of the plate 3 and projecting through an 'openingll therein to engage the cards, the engaging end of said spreader which comes in contact with the cards being preferably provided with a nose 12, made of material possessing a yielding natureas, for instance, rubber, cork, &c.so that the edges of the cards will not be Said spreader 10 has an opening 13, which registers with an opening 14: in the plate 3, and projecting through these openings to engage the cards is a tension-finger 15, which is also secured to the outer face of the plate 3, a rivet 16 serving to hold both the spreader and tension-finger in position. In order to prevent marring the edges of the cards by contact with said tension-finger, the latter is provided with a rounded button-shaped end 17.

18 is a tension-finger similar in construction to the finger 15 and likewise provided with a button-shaped end 19, which projects through an opening 20 in the plate 3 to engage the cards, said finger 18 being secured to the back or outer face of the plate 3 by a rivet 21. The tension-fingers 15 18 serve to press the cards gently against the inner face of the plate 1 for a purpose presently explained.

22 is a series of steps or ledges on the inner face of the plate 1, against which the several cards in the hand successively abut when spread out, as shown in Fig. 1, there being preferably as many steps as there are cards in the hand. Regarding the inner face of the plate 1 as a base-line, it will be observed by reference to Fig. 2 that each successive step is a greater distance from said plate than the previous one, or, in other words, each successive step increases in height from said baseline after the manner of aflight of stairs, which is a condition essential to the effective operation of my device. For facility in manufacturing I prefer to form these steps on a separate piece 23 and secure the latter to the plate 1 by rivets 24 25; but it is obvious that said steps may be formed directly in the plate, as shown in Fig. 8, or they may be formed by a series of pins 26 of different lengths secured to said plate, as shown in Fig. 9, without affecting the function or operation of this element of my invention.

27 is an inwardly-turned lip on the plate 1, which guards the cards from being tilted edgewise.

The plate 3, with its inwardly-turned portions 8 9 and spreading-finger 10, in effect forms a card-receptacle, one side of which is closed by the plate 1 and against which latter the cards are gently pressed by the tensionfingers, as previously set forth.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Previous to inserting the cards the plate 3 is positioned as shown in Fig. 3. The cards are then inserted between the front and back plates 1 3 in the form of a closed deck, being careful to aline one edge thereof against the inwardly-turned Wall 8, while the opposite edge of the deck is inclosed by the spreadingfinger 10, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The player then, while holding the device by the handle 2, causes the plate 3 to be rotated on its pivot 4 to the position shown in Fig. 1 by simply moving the finger-piece 5 with the index-finger of his hand, which operation is so easily performed as to require no previous practice. As the cards pass over the steps 22 in moving from the position illustrated in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 1 the several cards will be successively arrested in movement by said steps, the lirst or top card, which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is the eight of diamonds, coming in contact with the lirst step, where it remains, the second card (ace of spades) contacting with the second step, and so on until the entire hand is spread to view, the pin 6 in the arcuate slot 7 serving to restrict the movement of the parts within proper limits. The height of each step is approximately the same or a trifle less than the thickness of a single card, so that but one card can be engaged at a time.

By making the nose 12 on the spreadingfinger of a material such as rubber said nose will easily yield when the lowermost card ongaged thereby is arrested in its movement by the step corresponding to said card as the hand is being spread open, the nature of such material permitting the nose to bend slightly back upon itself and then mount on top of the next card in the series, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig.

Although I have shown and described my preferred way of constructing the spreadingfinger, still I do not wish to be circumscribed in this respect, since the construction details of this and other elements maybe greatly altered without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a card-exhibitor, a card-receptacle pivoted to a suitably-shaped plate provided with a handle, said card-receptacle being provided with an operating linger-piece conveniently located with respect to said handle and means carried by said receptacle for distributing the cards against a series of steps on said plate, each succeeding step lying in a higher plane, said means including a resilient spreading-finger adapted to engage the cards, substantially as set forth.

2. A card-exhibitor comprising a card-receptacle operatively mounted on a suitablyshaped plate and provided with means for distributing the cards against a series of steps on said plate, each succeeding step lying in a higher plane.

3. In a card-exhibitor, a card rcccptacle pivoted to a suitably-shaped plate, and provided with means for distrilmting the cards thereon, in combination with means, including an arcuate slot formed in said plate and cooperating with a stud carried by said receptacle, for restricting the I'nOVOH'IOIIt ol the latter with respect to said plate.

4. In a card-exhibitor, a card -reeeptacle pivoted to a suitably-shaped plate and provided with means for distributing the cards against a series of steps on said plate, each succeeding step lying in a higher plane, resilient tension-lingers carried by said receptacle and projecting through apertures therein to engage the cards and press the latter against said plate, whereby the effective engagement of said steps withthe cards is assured, as set forth.

5. In a card-exhibitor, a card-receptacle pivoted to a suitably-shaped plate and provided with means for distributing the cards against aseries of steps on said plate, each succeeding step lying in a higher plane, said means including suitable tension appliances carried by said receptacle and adapted to press the cards against said plate and a resilient spreading-finger adapted .to engage the edges of the cards, the engaging end of said finger being equipped with a resilient cushion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 

